Linde sets up combustion centre in Suzhou

Corporate News

Suzhou, CHINA, 26 March 2015 – The technology group The Linde Group has in Suzhou launched its combustion centre, taking the lead in the development of new combustion and heat treatment applications and solutions in China and the Asia Pacific region. It is also the first combustion centre to be owned by an industrial gases company in China.

The Linde Combustion Centre will drive R&D initiatives in partnership with metal and glass industries and research institutes in projects to develop green combustion technologies and improve heat treatment processes geared towards future and sustainable applications.

The centre owns cutting-edge technology to facilitate research and development work in metallurgy, steel, iron, nonferrous, mining and heat treatment industries. It also has an R&D demonstration facility for customer engagements, allowing for closer customer interactions when designing solutions specific to their needs.

“China, together with the Asia Pacific countries, is a key growth region for The Linde Group. At the speed of development in this region, industries will increasingly seek for advanced solutions that are sustainable with greater emphasis on process efficiencies and product quality. This is the trend we are seeing especially in China. In foreseeing this need, we have chosen to set up the Linde Combustion Centre in Suzhou, to offer Linde’s global technological know-how in gas applications and, in partnership with local experts, discover new leading applications for the industries in Asia,” says Steven Fang, The Linde Group, Regional Business Unit Head, East Asia.

“As a leading global technology company, sustained research and development is vital to Linde’s long-term business success, and the success of our customers. Intelligent gas applications can increase energy efficiency, improve product quality, lower emission and advance safety. Linde’s drive for continued innovation helps us to discover new applications for our gases, and ensuring that we are close to our customers will enable us to better understand their needs and better support and improve their processes. This is the vision of the Linde Combustion Centre in Suzhou, which will form an important part of Linde Technology China and Linde’s global research network,” says Dr. Christian Bruch, Member of the Executive Board, The Linde Group.

Oxyfuel technology – meaning the combustion of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil or coal with technical oxygen instead of air for industrial melting or heating processes is state of art technology in many industries these days. Using oxygen instead of air as an oxidizer reduces the flue gas volumes by 70%. The energy that is taken out by the flue gas can be significantly reduced. Applying oxygen in industrial combustion processes can save 30 to 60% of the fuel input compared to air fuel operation. Global competitive pressures, “greenhouse” gas emissions, and high energy prices force metal and glass industry to optimize energy usage and reduce overall operating costs. Oxy-fuel combustion and process technology can be applied to meet these objectives.

Linde also has a strong position in European heat treatment industry as an application technology provider. As a traditional gas supplier, Linde is active in supporting customers through process consulting, problem solving and participating process improvement projects. Now, Linde is leveraging the efforts to China market, and the setup in the Suzhou Centre can demonstrate to the potential customers the best operational practice of safe gas supply and robust application techniques of multiple product offer families in heat treatment field, especially for carburising, sintering and cryogenic processes.

Linde has three existing R&D centres in the US and Europe and China, supporting the application activities in those regions. The three centres will collaborate in global and local R&D initiatives, through the sharing of technology, training and capability building in applications technology development.

About Linde

In the 2014 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 17.047 bn, making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
In East Asia, Linde is headquartered in Shanghai and has around 70 wholly-owned companies and joint-ventures, and more than 200 operational plants in major industrial hubs across the country, with around 5,500 employees.

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